1. religion and spirituality
2. christianity

2014
NOV
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Markham Chinese Baptist Church
Living the Good News
The Good News is not meant to only
be said, but lived. It is not meant to
be hidden within a church, but to be
shared with the community. It is not
meant to be about our perfection, but
is about a power breaking through
our weakness that reaches into life.
Missionary Update
Our Time in Chiang Mai
Recently we realized that August 8th
marked the day we arrived in Chiang Mai
from Toronto (via Malaysia), 10 years ago.
We arrived by train having travelled all the
way from the southern part of the country.
Currently, Eng is the manager at Regional
Accounting Center (RAC) with five Thai staff
working under him. He is also involved
in the daily operations of a restaurant
called “Upper Crust,” overseeing eight
Thai and seven Burmese workers. Before
Eng managed the RAC, no manager had
worked there longer than two years. God
was incredibly faithful in helping Eng
handle the stresses brought about by
budgets, deadlines, and relational issues. It
is also humbling to realize that without his
ministry 400-500 missionaries and their
financial needs would not have been met,
which also means that their ministries in
various south asian countries would have
been affected.
I did two years of language study and a
few months of teaching English in a poor
area of Chiang Mai before I started working
as a Teaching Assistant (TA) at Grace
International School (GIS). Those same
students are now in grade 9 and almost all
taller than me! This is my 8th year at GIS
(a year as a TA, five years as an ESL teacher
and on my 2nd year as Student and Family
Ministries Coordinator). I now coordinate
various ministries in the city plus 21 Bible
Study groups (made up of students taught
by older students while mentored by
adults). It is heart-warming to have a part
in the various ministries. The work that
I am involved in is a testimony of God’s
goodness and faithfulness in my life. He is
simply too good.
We praise God for the challenges,
blessings, experiences, growth in us, and
help in our lives in the last ten years. We
look forward to what He has in store for us
in the next ten years!
STAFF INFO Ext.
Senior Pastor
Rev. Dr. Tommy Wong
[email protected]
221
222
Mandarin Pastors
Pastor George Lin
[email protected]
245
Pastor Joseph Cheng
[email protected]
224
Cantonese Pastors
Rev. Hubert Wu
[email protected]
226
Pastor Edward Leung
[email protected] 248
English Pastors
Rev. Dr. Kevin Houser
[email protected]
229
Rev. Victor Lee
[email protected]
228
Youth Pastor
Pastor Freddy Lam
[email protected]
230
Love and blessings,
Children Pastor
Pastor Ada Yu
[email protected]
235
Linda for Eng, Ethan, and Evan, Eric,​and Eli
Executive Officer
Mr. Paul SK Chau
[email protected]
223
Secretary
Ms. Shirley Chau
[email protected]
222
Admin. Assistant
Ms. Tracy Chan
[email protected]
221
Superintendent
Mr. Chester Lee
[email protected]
241
Caretaker
Mr. Charles Wong
236
COMING UP
Nov 2
God Provides
Philippians 4:10-23 Pastor Kevin
Nov 9
Forgetting Our Religion
Judges 17&18
Pastor Kevin
Nov 16
Salvation to the Ends of the Earth
Acts 13:47-49
Diego Lopes
Nov 23
What Makes a Witness
Mark 1:16-20
Jorge Sedaca
Nov 30
Brother Against Brother
Judges 19
Pastor Kevin
As a former missionary, there is nothing that
excites me more than hearing what God is doing
to expand the glory of his name throughout the
world. This month is dedicated to missions at
MCBC and we have several wonderful events
planned that will challenge us to participate
in God’s work of Kingdom building. Our key
speaker on Mission’s Sunday (16th) is Diego
Lopes, pastor of Olivet Baptist Church. Diego is
a Brazilian who served in South Africa as a missionary for ten years before coming to Canada
to serve in a Portuguese/English church. In July
several of us from MCBC went to downtown
Toronto and helped in a memorable community
outreach/evangelism day sponsored by Olivet.
November is also an auspicious month
for us as an English Division in that in after two
years of searching we are excited to welcome
Pastor Victor and his family to MCBC. Pastor
Victor brings loads of ministry experience and
will be a wonderful asset to the church, helping us to grow in our understanding and walk
with God. Please take the time welcome them
warmly.
God has certainly blessed us in so
many ways. As you worship with us this morning, my prayer is that you are overwhelmed
with the love of God and the sufficiency of his
sovereign grace. Have a blessed day.
In Christ,
Pastor Kevin
(647-470-9255)
Table of Contents
Announcements
Small Groups
6
Sunday School Info / Picnic
7
Your Story
8
Calendar
9
Prayer Items
10
Numbers / Sports Ministries
11
4-5
Events
1
NOV
Joint Prayer
Meeting
A joint prayer meeting with the theme
“Proclaiming Christ” is happening between 10:00 am to 12:00 noon on Saturday. All are welcome!.
2
NOV
Daylight Saving
Times Ends
Please remember to turn your time backwards one hour that morning.
7
NOV
Short Term
Missions Sharing
This is a wonderful time to see, hear, and
taste of God’s goodness to our MCBC missions teams that went out throughout the
world this past summer, as well as catch a
vision for what may be coming in 2015.
23
NOV
4th General member’s meeting
The 4th General Member’s Meeting of
2014 will be held in the Sanctuary on
Sunday, November 23 at 12:45pm. All
members of MCBC are encouraged to
attend.
13
DEC
Joint Christmas
Celebration
Others YLD Children
The Preschool Ministry has changed its
name to “Bee-liever”, and a new format
of worship has been introduced. To avoid
interruption, please do not bring younger
siblings or “re-join” us after the English
worship’s singspiration as we will have our
own singspiration time. Please prepare
your child a backpack with bottled water, a
simple snack and offering money. Also, reviewing their learning at home with them
is helpful for their spiritual growth! If your
children are 2½ years old or older, please
join us! Thanks for your cooperation and
support.
2nd floor Safety
For the safety of the children, we ask that
you avoid the 2nd floor on Sundays from
9:00 am to 1:00 pm unless necessary. If
you require access to the balcony, kindly
use the stairs inside the sanctuary. Children and their parents who are signing
them in and picking them up, as well as
YLD teachers and helpers, are welcome
to access 2nd floor as usual. Thank you for
your understanding and cooperation.
Operation Christmas
Child
Shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child
is now available.
Come all as we celebrate together “The
Good News”.
Church News
1. Pastor Edward Leung is away on vacation from November 25 to 30.
2. We welcome Rev. Victor Lee and family to our church.
4
Latest News > mcbc.com
AV Team Recruitment
Do you have an ear for the perfect mix or
an eye for impeccable presentation? If you
answered yes to either of those questions,
we’re looking for you! We are currently
looking for faithful and willing individuals
to serve on the AV team. Please contact Jon
Wong ([email protected]) for more
information.
Outreach/Evangelism
Team Leader
Do you have a heart to see people come to
a saving faith in Christ? We need you! We
are looking for a person to help serve the
English Division by leading our outreach and
evangelistic ministries. Please contact Amy
Lam ([email protected]) for more
information.
Children Counsellors
Recruitment of Pastors
Grace Fellowship (for Grades 5 and 6) is
looking for counsellors. If interested, please
contact Deacon Richard Wong (richardbear@
rogers.com) or Pastor Ada Yu (ada.yu@mcbc.
com) for more details.
1. Senior Pastor (Full-Time)
Children’s Ministry
Teachers
Children Worship is looking for small group
teachers and helpers to serve between 11:00
am to 12:30 pm every Sunday for the next
quarter (December 2014 to February 2015).
If interested, please contact Corinne Har
([email protected]) or Deacon Richard
Wong ([email protected])
Traffic Team
Come and join our Traffic Team to help
maintain a safe and orderly parking lot for our
brothers, sisters, and guests before and after
Sunday Service. It’s a great way to put our
servant hearts into practice! Please contact
Patrick Lum ([email protected]) for more
information.
The Senior Pastor is required to have solid
faith in Christ, be compassionate, and
people-oriented with strong communication
and servant leadership skills. A minimum
of 7 years of pastoral experience preferably
under a North American multicultural
setting with a Masters degree in theological
education from an accredited and
recognized institution. A giftedness in
preaching and teaching is expected.
For interested candidates, please visit our
website at http://www.mcbc.com for further
details or to submit your application via
email below..
2. Cantonese Pastor (Full-Time)
The candidate must be a theological school
graduate with excellent communication
skills in Cantonese. His/her task will be to
help nurture the Cantonese congregation.
For inquiry or application, please email us
[email protected].
5
The ABCs of
Disciple-Making
Earlier this year in our small groups we
studied Robert E. Coleman’s wonderful
little book The Master Plan of Discipleship.
Since this is missions month, it would good
for us to be remember the six key biblical
factors that prompted the explosive growth
of disciple making in the early church and
recommit ourselves to making them an
important part of our daily lives. While
Coleman’s insights are not necessarily new,
they are indispensable for any church that
wants to have a real impact for the Kingdom
of God.
1.
We need to have a vision for the Kingdom of God, that he would want to be
glorified by all people.
2.
We are called to win the lost that are
within our sphere of influence, the
natural relationships providentially
arranged by God.
3.
Everyday activities of life provide us
with times of fellowship that nurture
interdependency and real community.
4.
Witnessing is not a program, but a lifestyle that everyone is called to live out.
5.
We need to have a personal devotion
to live for Jesus that is evidenced by
obedience to his precepts and will, and
directed by a willingness to count the
cost to follow in his footsteps.
6. A growing experience of Christlikeness
or holiness.
If we can truly live out these principles,
demonstrating a joyful dependency on
a loving and merciful God, we will be a
mighty witness for Jesus in our community and around the world. My hope is that
your heart’s desire is to see others come to
saving faith in Jesus and that you will take
every opportunity to speak of Jesus this
month.
God bless.
Pastor Kevin
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COMING IN
NOVEMBER!
Follow Me
by David Platt
Youth
Grace
| Grade 5 & 6
2nd and 4th Friday, 7:30 – 9:00 pm
[email protected]
Timotheus | Grade 7 & 8
Fridays, 7:30 – 9:30 pm
[email protected]
Koinonia | Grade 9 – 12
Fridays, 7:30 – 9:30 pm
[email protected]
Adult/Family
Covenant | Young Family
Saturdays, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Priscilla Wong – [email protected]
John | Young Family
Fridays, 7:30 – 9:30 pm
Wilson Lau – [email protected]
Pneumatos | Post-Secondary
Saturdays, 5:30 – 7:00 pm
[email protected]
Salt & Light | Adult
1st & 3rd Saturdays, 7:30 pm
Paul Hung – [email protected]
Peniel | Adult
1st & 3rd Sundays, 1:00 pm
Karen Tsang – [email protected]
Patrick Lum – [email protected]
What did Jesus really mean when He said, ‘Follow Me’? For many Christians, following Jesus is
seen as best done from a distance. We want to
be disciples as long as doing so does not intrude
on our lifestyles, our preferences, our comforts,
and even our religion. But what if we really took
the time to look Jesus in the eye and see who
he truly is? What if we really listened to Jesus’
words and heard what he is truly saying? When
people truly engage with Jesus’ personal invitation to follow him, everything changed for he
is worthy of all our trust and all our affections.,
This class will motivate all of us to experience
the grand purpose for which we have been
created: to exalt the glory of God by spreading
the gospel of Christ—to make disciples who are
making disciples.
Dec 7 ~ Feb 23 | 11:15 am - 12:30 pm
Baptism
(Start Jan 2015)
Teacher // TBA
Starting Point
Do you want to know the truth of God, Jesus
Christ and to have eternal life? Starting Point is
for people who are curious about God, or who
have a new relationship with Jesus Christ, or are
returning to church after being away for a while.
The class will have plenty of discussions, questions and answers.
Teachers // Larry Chan, Edward Tsang
Have you accepted Jesus Christ into your
heart as your personal saviour and Lord? Are
you ready to step out in obedience to openly
acknowledge Jesus Christ before others in
water baptism? This class will help you learn
more about God, our sinfulness, God’s grace
and salvation.
•Why did Jesus institute this right of passage?
•Why do we dunk people in water?
•Why is this step necessary to my spiritual
life?
Teachers // Pastor Kevin
Fish | Career
Thursdays, 8:00 - 10:30pm
Daniel Woo – [email protected]
Bread | Young Career
Saturdays, 5:30 - 7:30 pm
[email protected]
Dec- Feb
Bible Studies for Life
Grade 7/8 BoysB-26
Freddy Lam
Bible Studies for Life
Grade 7/8 Girls B-28
Joanna Cheung
Explore the Bible - Esther, Grade 9
Ezra,& Grade 10/11
Nehemiah Grade 12
TBATBA
TBA
Ellena Tsang
TBA
Agnes Chung
For more information please contact: [email protected]
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8
9am Prayer Meeting
7:30pm Prayer Meeting Scouts
7pm Badminton
9:30am Eng Worship
1st week of advent
10am Prayer Meeting
1pm Basketball
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30
10am Joint Prayer Meeting
1pm Basketball
9am Prayer Meeting
7:30pm Prayer Meeting
9:30am Eng Worship
4th General Member’s Meeting
Missions Sunday
Scouts
Scouts
Pastoral Staff Retreat
7pm Badminton
Small Group FUN! Night
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10am Prayer Meeting
1pm Basketball
7pm Badminton
7:30pm EDM meeting
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9am Prayer Meeting
7:30pm Prayer Meeting
9:30am Eng Worship
9am Prayer Meeting
7:30pm Prayer Meeting
9:30am Eng Worship
Council Meeting
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10am Prayer Meeting
1pm Basketball
1011 12 131415
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Scouts
7pm Badminton
8pm Nurturing Heads
Meeting
34 5678
9am Prayer Meeting
7:30pm Prayer Meeting Scouts
7pm Badminton
7:30 pm STM Sharing
10am Prayer Meeting
9:30am Eng Worship
Deacon’s Board Meeting
(YLD & ED)
1pm Basketball
Daylight Savings
Tell us YOUR story at : [email protected]
2
We want to hear FROM YOU!
9am Prayer Meeting
7:30pm Prayer Meeting Scouts
7pm Badminton
1pm Basketball
9:30am Eng Worship
10am Joint Prayer Meeting
We are a community and a family of
believers who are called to love one
another (John 13:34) and help carry
each other’s burdens (Galatians 6:2).
We are to confess our sins to one
another and pray for one another
(James 5:16). We are to exhort one
another daily (Hebrews 3:13). This
means we need to have some degree
Sometimes, I think we tend to be
of vulnerability and grace—on the part
ignorant of some of the struggles and of the person we want to help and on
sufferings of people. We’re great when our own part. We need to remember
someone or a family is going through that the church is not composed of
a crisis, or when there is something
saints, but rather sinners whom God
we know we can do. But if someone
has called and is molding to become
is suffering from burnout, depression, his saints. The church is for the broken
or the darkness of the soul, we tend
and we do not expect you to come
to adopt the “if we don’t see it, if we
fixed. Rather, here you will find the One
don’t hear it, it doesn’t exist.” We don’t who will make you whole and we will
speak of it, and it will either go away
be with you every step of the way.
or the person will “get over it.” We
are like ostriches, sticking our heads
in the sand and hoping things will go
back to normal. On the other end of the
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spectrum, we tend to tell people that it
is because they did not do this, or they
did not do that (they need to pray more
or have more faith; that if they confess
their sins to the Lord, they will be
forgiven and find peace). We ignore the
hurting person and just jump straight
into what they should do to fix it. But Is
this really the church?
November@mcbc
In one of my counselling courses, this
statement came up: “We say that ‘The
church is for the broken,’ but we expect
you to come fixed.” We talked about it
because there have been many cases
where the church forgets that we are
imperfect people and there is still
brokenness, even if we have “the love
of Christ” or “the joy of the Lord.” It is
okay if you are not “all together.” Being
a follower of Jesus does not mean you
are a happy, perfect person from the
get-go. It means you are a continual
work in progress until the Lord calls
you home or he comes again. There will
be times when you are not at your best,
and you shouldn’t have to be afraid to
let others know.
S
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*Mandarin
*English
Ellena Tsang
* Young Life *Cantonese
A Church for the Broken
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PRAYER ITEMS
COME AND PRAY WITH US
Tuesday | 7:30 pm
Saturday | 10:00 am
Sunday | 9:00 am
ATTENDANCE
350
WORSHIP
SERVICE
7th
263
175
SEPT
14th 21st 28th
English
253
189
299
218
Children
114
118
105
97
SUNDAY
SCHOOL
English
7th
14th 21st 28th
50
51
53
-
Youth
80
67
67
-
Children
99
84
91
-
N/A
88
OUR CHURCH
Pray for the retirement plans of
Rev. Wong, a new senior pastor
and for stability and spiritual
maturity during our transition.
PTL for God’s provision of a
Pastor Victor Lee for our congregation.
Pray for Pastor Victor’s family
as they adjust to a new church
setting: Joyce (wife) and 2
daughters Hannah and Jessica.
Pray for a new Cantonese pastor to come soon.
Pray for the Joint Christmas
Celebration Dec 113th and for
the crossdivisional organizing
team.
Pray for our participation in
Operation Christmas Child and
for the good reception of gifts,
that they would have true spiritual impact for God’s Kingdom.
EDM // PTL for the people sign
up to serve our Lord and the
awareness of the serving opportunity in different ministries
Nurturing // Pray for people
contemplating baptism.
Pray for seed that grows and
blooms and not falls on rocky
ground.
Pray for more ED members to
be eager and willing to commit
to joining the Sunday school
classes regularly.
10
Sports Ministry// Pray that participants remember that this is
an outreach opportunity and
desire to serve as such.
Small Group Ministry // Pray
that the small groups will take
the opportunity to have a fun,
joint event in November and
meet Pastor Victor.
Caring// Pray that we can better intentionally engage our
newcomers.
YLD// Pray for YLD initiative
to notice the unnoticed in our
current youth ministry through
all the environments. There’s
still a few not being noticed,
but praise God we identified
the culture hindering this.
Children// Pray for more
teachers for Bee-liever ministry.
lowship with God and love for
each other as they seek Him
out daily through His word.
Sports Ministry// Pray that
participants to best use this is
an outreach opportunity and
desire to serve as such.
For enrolment and scheduling
for the coming year.
DRIVEN// Pray that ALTER
EGO will help our students to
know who they are in Christ as
they explore their place in the
world.
14-SEP
21-SEP
28-SEP
OFFERING
MCBC
COMBINED
$50,000
2014
General
Missions
BUDGET
2,072,405
242,450
TO-DATE
1,083,860
151,467
$25,000
$0
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
AUG
SEP
Contact: [email protected]
Saturday Basketball | 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Drop-in basis. All skill levels and ages are welcome to play in
a fun yet competitive environment.
Contact: Cyrus Choy ([email protected])
Pray for the serious lack of
helpers at all levels as we
struggle with increased enrolment of children in all classes.
Sunday Night Basketball | 8:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Open for those who are attending MCBC in any function
(service, fellowship, small group, etc.).
Contact: Kenny Chan ([email protected])
Pray for the planning of Grace
Fellowship.
Youth Leaders// Pray for the
leaders to have constant fel-
7-SEP
OUR WORLD
Pray for the sharing of Children Ministry in tomorrow’s
pastoral meeting.
Praise God for our first Parent’s Lounge with all parents
available to come and vested
in their son’s spiritual growth,
and willingness to help out in
various ways for other parents.
0
Chinese Christian Basketball Ministry
Sunday Night Games: October to June @ Milliken Park
Community Centre
Contact: Joyce Chau ([email protected])
For more information on unreached people groups please
visit www.joshuaproject.net
Thursday Badminton | 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Family and all levels are welcome.
Pre-registration is required as space is limited.
Contact: Amy Lam ([email protected])
11
FIRST
TIME?
If this is your first time at MCBC, we hope you
enjoyed the service today! We’re glad you are
here and hope that you find our church to be
a place where you can get to know God and
others better. Please stop by our Welcome
Desk downstairs for more information about
how to get connected.
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Sunday Worship Time
English | 9:30 am - 10:45 am
Children | 11:00 am - 12:30 pm
Youth | 9:30 am - 10:30 am
Cantonese | 8:00 am - 9:00 am | 11:15 am - 12:30 pm
Mandarin | 9:15 am - 10:45 am
9580 Woodbine Ave
Markham, ON L6C 1H8
Tel: (905) 887 6222 | Fax: (905) 887 2496
www.mcbc.com | [email protected]